Hand In Hand (Day 1 of the 30 Day OTP Challenge: Holding Hands)
by Queen-of-Ice101
Summary: Pretending to be someone he wasn't was perfectly exhausting, although Gyendal would never dare to admit it aloud. Although he supposed he should be considering himself as Spook now. And what's worse was while pretending to be a friend was tiring, it was far outweighed by how tiring travelling with Mel's insufferable group was! How he cursed this group, and this rain!


Heeyoo!

So this is an old oneshot, one I wrote back in I believe may? It was written for a challenge some of you on other platforms also may have heard of, called the 30 Day OTP Challenge! Each day comes with a prompt, and a little bit ago I took up the challenge for writing stories about MelxGyendal, and this was for Day 1: Holding Hands.

Just a short little snippet written in the midst of ultimate writing block XD

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 **Hand in Hand**

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The drizzle of the rain as they travelled around the Peliad area had been constant for days, dreary and chilled in a way that seemed to seep right into your bones. Everyone was feeling down and listless, including the former vampire mage who was dragging himself along with the ragtag group of mortals following the Darkthrop heir. It was bad enough travelling with the absurdly happy girl and that stupid prince who followed Mel like a haunting spirit, but the sheer willpower it took not to use his magic to block it from dampening his clothes, Spook could have sworn was actually physically paining him.

"Even Thais doesn't get this much rain! And we have lush forests and prospering farms!" Edward grumbled from behind, and as much as he was loathe to admit Spook couldn't help but agree.

"Stop whining already! You never had to drag yourself out in the rain, you stuck around me despite my trying to send you away so suck it up." Mel snapped from where she was walking next to Spook.

He glanced over with a slight smirk, the black haired girl looked like a thundercloud walking down the path at the moment and it was wholly entertaining. He had actually found himself enjoying conversation with her more than planned, who would have guessed that despite the idiots she always seemed to surround herself with she was capable of intelligent thought.

"So touchy, you know you could always ditch these losers and come with me. It'd take less time, and you wouldn't have to deal with the complainers." He offered temptingly, raising one black brow in question at her.

Mel's lips twitched slightly in amusement as behind them there was an offended huff before shaking her head.

"Nah, they're my losers. I'm not striking off with you Spook, as tempting as punting them into the water is sometimes..." She trailed off before falling silent as Edward and June squabbled behind them about magic versus metal.

"Your loss." He snorted, glancing behind them.

Ohh how his fingers iched to silence them, one quickly cast spell and they could have some peaceful cats rather than obnoxious humans.

"Mel!" The little girl called. "Are we there yet?! We've been wandering for ages and I'm hungry!"

And there it was, the phrase that every single adult on the face of Aia hated with every fibre of their being.

"We get there...WHEN WE GET THERE and the next person with a complaint _can go stick their head in swamp water!_ " The rage in her tone made the girl jump, and a fondly amused smile flicker across Edward's expression before the young man adopted a look not unlike a kicked puppy

Spook couldn't help but snicker as Mel turned back around with a huff, but his laughter rapidly turned into a cough as a shiver wracked his body.

"Damn it..." His human body was weak, and susceptible to chill which apparently had set in deeper then he thought.

Goddess, he hated this delicate mortal body!

His coughs stopped, but with them what little neutral mood he had been in vanished as well as he continued to trudge forward. So lost in his unpleasant thoughts that he never even noticed Mel shift closer, until a slight touch on his hand jerked him back to awareness. With unusual gentleness a smaller hand slipped into his, fingers closing over his hand with sureness as she matched her steps to his without a word. Despite her own slight shivers the hand in his was warm, thawing out his chilled fingers.

His eyes widened slightly despite himself, and Spook looked down at their joined hands. She never said a word, never even looked at him, but the blush made it clear she was very aware of his reactions and her actions.

"Mel..."

"I think that for tonight we should get a hotel, get out of the rain to dry off and sleep somewhere warm." She commented, completely ignoring him.

He was silent a moment as they walked, warmth radiating from his hand still holding his.

This was the plan, to win her heart, manipulate her for the orb. This was exactly what he needed, the ideal outcome so far. The goal behind the mask of a thief called Spook, the plans of the liar and mage.

...So then why was Gyendal so hyperaware of her calloused hand in his? The concern that had come through in her actions just because of him coughing stuck there in the back of his mind like a particularly difficult problem, and he looked down for a moment to study their joined hands with perplexed irritation.

This Darkthrop heir was more trouble then he predicted, at every single turn.

He stared straight ahead, then Gyendal slowly closed his hand around hers. He could manage this just fine, he was the Lord of Twilight.


End file.
